Students Reminded of Road Safety Responsibilities At Demonstration

One thousand six hundred Limerick secondary school students are attending a project targeted at improving road safety across the city and county over the next two days.

The Lifesaver project, now in its ninth year, is an initiative aimed at reducing road collisions and promoting road safety among young people.

It is taking place at the South Court Hotel in Raheen.

There have been four people killed on Limerick roads in 2015 as of August this year, with nine “serious injury collisions” also having been reported.

The project first shows students a mock road traffic accident scene, before they are shown a presentation from emergency services personnel.

The emergency services at the scene are deployed as if it were a real road traffic collision.

The presentation includes personal accounts from road crash survivors and input from families who have lost loved ones as a result of road accidents.

“The main aim of this project is to change people’s attitude towards road safety. It is not about making people better drivers but making them realise how easy it is for things to go wrong and the consequences of bad driving habits,” said Limerick Road Safety Officer Karen Butler.

“These range from very bad cases of drink and drug driving to simply not looking at the road ahead,” she added.

The project, led by An Garda Síochána, is in collaboration with Limerick City & County Council, Limerick City & County Fire Services, Ambulance Services and the Health Service Executive.

Speaking earlier this year, head of the divisional traffic corps Paul Reidy expressed concern about road safety leading into the autumn and winter months.

“Going into the autumn and winter of last year, we had three pedestrians killed and one pedal cyclist, so obviously our concern now for the remainder of this year is that pedestrians are careful when they are out on the roads and that they make sure they can be seen by wearing high vis jackets or reflective clothing,” he said.